Karoline Leavitt is serving as the White House Press Secretary to a president who launched a crypto scheme mere days before entering the office. A new report from NOTUS revealed that the 27-year-old is no stranger to the grifty side of politics.
The report shared that Leavitt hid nearly $300,000 in campaign debt from her failed 2022 congressional run. Leavitt took a job as the national press secretary for Trump’s 2024 campaign last year. Days after taking office as a member of the Trump administration, Leavitt’s congressional campaign made changes to 17 financial reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, nearly tripling the reported amount of debt that her failed bid owed.
The report dives into Leavitt's amended filings, which revealed that Leavitt's campaign had already spent the money gained from illegal donations. Roughly two-thirds of the new debt derives from mandated refunds to donors who gave more than the campaign contribution limit.
Per federal campaign finance law, Leavitt should have re-designated or returned excess funds within 60 days of receiving the donations. But NOTUS’s review of the updated filings suggests she still hasn’t done so. Leavitt’s campaign is still required to return hundreds of thousands to donors.
Leavitt’s campaign was accused in 2022 of unlawfully accepting campaign checks beyond the legal limits just before election day by the End Citizens United group. The group says the Thursday filing proves their complaint was true.
“She took excessive contributions, which is against the law, and is just now reporting them — two years later,” End Citizens United spokesperson Bawadden Sayed told NOTUS, adding that fundraising to close the debt could create a “glaring conflict of interest” for the press secretary.
“She still needs to raise money to refund these contributions, potentially opening the door for wealthy donors and corporate special interests to curry favor with her," Sayed shared.
The FEC says its review of the matter is still ongoing.
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